Effects of live-remote exercise on quality of life and other health-related outcomes in cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial

Melissa Kotte; Kate A Bolam; Renske Altena; Prue Cormie; Yvonne Wengström; Sara Mijwel

doi:10.1007/s11764-025-01845-x

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Effects of live-remote exercise on quality of life and other health-related outcomes in cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Effects of live-remote exercise on quality of life and other health-related outcomes in cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial

Melissa Kotte, Kate A Bolam, Renske Altena, Prue Cormie, Yvonne Wengström and Sara Mijwel

Journal of Cancer Survivorship, Vol.Advanced access

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-025-01845-x

PMID: 40467967

Appears in Cancer Research Cluster Research Collection

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Abstract

HRQoL

Virtual exercise

Home-based exercise

Telehealth

Cancer

Purpose Exercise following cancer treatment has been shown to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and other important health outcomes, yet barriers to participation prevent many cancer survivors from exercising according to recommendations. Live-remote exercise methods could improve accessibility; however, evidence on their efficacy is limited. The EX-MED Cancer Sweden randomised controlled trial compared the effects of a 12-week live-remote online exercise intervention to usual care in adult cancer survivors. Methods Two hundred adults who had completed curative treatment for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer were randomised to a 12-week live-remote online exercise intervention or a usual care control group. Intervention effects on the primary outcome overall HRQoL (EORTC-QLQ-C30) and secondary outcomes cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscle strength, physical function, body composition, and other patient-reported outcomes were determined by comparing changes from baseline to 3 (primary timepoint) and 6 months between groups. Results No significant effect was observed on overall HRQoL. However, live-remote exercise resulted in significant improvements at 3 months on the physical functioning domain of HRQoL (p ≤ 0.001), five-times sit-to-stand (p = 0.003), and moderate-vigorous physical activity levels (p ≤ 0.001) as well as estimated VO2 max (p = 0.045), and upper body strength (p = 0.010) at 3 and 6 months. No significant differences were observed between the groups on lower body strength, handgrip strength, fatigue, or the other functional domains or symptoms of the EORTC-QLQ-C30. Conclusions A 12-week live-remote exercise intervention did not lead to improvements in overall HRQoL; however, it did result in significant benefits in physical function, CRF, and upper body strength in adults treated for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer. These findings add to the limited evidence on the effects of virtually supervised exercise for cancer survivors. Implications for Cancer Survivors EX-MED Cancer Sweden addresses common exercise barriers for cancer survivors while providing the benefits of supervised exercise. Trial registration NCT05064670, Trial registered on October 1, 2021, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05064670

Details

Title: Effects of live-remote exercise on quality of life and other health-related outcomes in cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Melissa Kotte (Corresponding Author) - Karolinska Institutet
Kate A Bolam - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health
Renske Altena - Karolinska Institutet
Prue Cormie - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Yvonne Wengström - Karolinska Institutet
Sara Mijwel - Karolinska Institutet
Publication details: Journal of Cancer Survivorship, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Springer New York LLC
DOI: 10.1007/s11764-025-01845-x
ISSN: 1932-2267
PMID: 40467967
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Data Availability: The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Grant note: This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (19 0089 Pj), the Research School in Health Science, Karolinska Institutet (3–4059/2020), the Cancer Research Funds of Radiumhemmet (211422), and the King Gustav V and Queen Victoria’s Foundation.
Organisation Unit: School of Health; Cancer Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991144238302621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Oncology; Social Sciences, Biomedical

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